Hi Greg and Puma Cat, Thanks for your earlier congrats - much appreciated. As you’ll see below, the system is up and operational. It’s been running for two hours as I write this. As you well know, the system has approximately 500 - 700 hours of break-in remaining. Nonetheless, I’m very pleased. The system’s bass is very noticeably improved over my previous GAT S1 & ART Monos combo and it’s overall dynamics are, also, better than I recall. I’ll be setting the CD player on repeat and the system will run for at least several days before I sit down to listen more carefully.

I’ve included two pics of the system with the lights on and another the with lights off - allowing the tubes to cast the glow that I’ve missed during my two years in the world of solid state. Please excuse the messy cabling and rack placement, I’ll be tidying things up tomorrow.

MikeAttachment 58913Attachment 58914Attachment 58915

Beautiful set-up, Mike!

Now the "work" begins...

Master is definitely better but you're not comparing apples to apples .. I upgraded my VAC SigMKIIa to SigMKIIa SE and improvements are HUGE. A totally different preamp. There's also significant differences between MK2 vs MK2a

Hi all- here’s an update for anyone with an interest in CJ gear.

After about one week of play time, had a hiccup with my new CJ gear. Yesterday, all of a sudden, a very loud hum started coming from the right channel. I figured it was a power tube and swapped the left and right channel tubes with the same result - loud right channel hum. Then I swapped the left and right channel signal tubes with the same result - loud right channel hum. I didn’t try swapping the signal splitter tube as I figured that either it was defective and the source of the problem or that the problem was deeper in the amp.

I then called CJ and spoke with Jeff, the owner & designer. He told me that, almost always, the problem I was describing was signal tube related. CJ has sent me (3) new 6922 signal tubes which should arrive tomorrow.

Today, a friend brought over (3) new 6922 tubes that he keeps as spares. We installed them and VOILA - the hum is gone! I’ve been continuing to play music all day and am continuing the break-in process. I’ll swap signal tubes when the new, CJ provided, 6922 tubes arrive tomorrow.

Once I have 400-500 hours on the system, I will install Herbies tube dampeners and also switch the two 6922 signal tubes in my GAT S2 preamp with some NOS Telefunken E88CC tubes. I bought the E88CC tubes for use in my original GAT S1 from Upscale Audio four years ago for about $390. Now, they sell for $780 for two! My advice: Forget buying stocks, bonds or Bitcoin for your retirement, buy NOS tubes!

Right now, the system has around 140 hours of burn-in and the Raidho D3.1 speakers sound MUCH better than with my prior setup of Aavik U300 & Oppo BDP-105D (used as a transport only); and sounds MUCH, MUCH better than my setup of two years ago, which consisted of Raidho D3 V2 speakers, CJ ART Monos and GAT S1 preamp.

As part of my recent CJ upgrade, I bought CJ’s TEA1-S2 phono preamp (as I no longer had the phono in the U300). My vinyl is now the best sounding part of my system, clearly outperforming the K-01X player & G-02X clock. Overall, I’m really happy with how things are settling-in.


Mike

Sounds great, Mike!

Just for clarification, were the 6922s on the power amps?

Have never used Telefunken E88Cs for 6922s. I am using Ediswan 6922s from Upscale in my LP-70S, which I like very much. I was also fond of Amperexes as 6922s in my Pr17 LS.

Cheers,
Stephen

Hi Stephen, the problem 6922 tube was on the amp. Both my prior GAT S1 and my current GAT S2 also employ 6922 tubes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’m through with any further problems.

One final observation, I read in a review of the ART150 that the KT150 tubes run hot. My experience has been the opposite. Based upon my recollection of using, over many years, the Premier 11A, LP140M (both using 6550 tubes) and ART Mono amps (using KT120 tubes) that the ART150 runs cooler than any of them.

Be well,
Mike

Hi Stephen, the rest of my new gear arrived today (additional rack section and another Ansuz interconnect). I’ve included two photos of the finished system. I’m afraid that I wasn’t particularly successful at taming the aggregation of cables behind the equipment.

I now have approximately 160 hours of run time on the system and am pleased with how it sounds. Another 340 to 540 hours of break-in time remain.

Have a good weekend,
MikeAttachment 58979Attachment 1

Mike - this looks great! I am glad that you are pleased with the outcome!

Gorgeous setup you have there, Mike. Well done.

Hi Greg and Higgens, thanks for the kudos, they’re much appreciated. I now have approximately 350 hours of burn-in completed and the system performs wonderfully. My wife and I will soon be off to New England for the summer. Once we return and I complete the burn-in process I’ll provide another update.

Best wishes to all for a wonderful summer.
Mike